Vita Noctis toe the line between an 80’s disenfranchised rift and a cold wave chord. The Danse Society come from the age when British society was on the verge of dissolution, of widespread strikes and the Troubles of Northern Ireland.
[Dark Entries shop] The West Coast of the US is synonymous with one drink. Coffee. Dark Entries boss Josh Cheon must be quaffing the black stuff by the gallon based on the output of his label. With System Lilliput and Europa just cool from the plant the San Fran imprint returns with two more releases.
Vita Noctis first came to my attention on Walhalla’s excellent Underground Belgian Wave Vol 1. Dark Entries have teamed up with Dirk Ivens’ Minimal Maximal to give this Belgian obscurity and two full pieces of wax: Against the Rule. This dual label collab have released the entire back catalogue of Kris Kips, Jos Kips and Martine Genijn. The record starts in unsettling form with the haunting chants of “Intro.” The slow strings of “Pitch-dark” follow with dark moody post punk tones. “Introductory Works” comes from a similar melancholic vein. The achingly brilliant “Hade” pulls the heartstrings, an amazingly powerful track. The synths are out for “Civilisation,” a disparate piece of minimalism. Vita Noctis toe the line between post punk angst and new wave experimentation. Vocals slide across genders. There’s almost something of Portishead to some of the pieces, such as “These Lies” or “Cleaning Day.” The album marks the progression of Vita Noctis, with a number of alternate versions of pieces on the LP. The title piece bleeds vocalists into one sombre being, this moodiness stretching into “Expose.” With the D-Side comes more downtrodden abstraction. “Execution” is an eclipsed piece of synth wave, samples and machine beats mingling in the ashen chords. “This is Not the Life” brings to a head the group’s rampant disaffection. “Alone” continues to disassociate before “Exowided” closes the catalogue, a final piece of alienation from this Belgian trio.
Dark Entries dredge the post industrial sorrows of 1980’s Northern England next. The Danse Society are the result of this search, found just outside of Manchester. Barnsley is historically a tough town, and Demos Vol.1 is a hardy record. The synthesizers are sidelined and eclipsed strings envelope. Guttural chords flex from the get go. “Come Inside” is a shrouded piece of dark wave, the anguish pulsing into the primal “Wake Up.” The Danse Society are not polished hair flicking synth pop outfit but a gritty D.I.Y. group. “Heaven is Waiting” combines synthesizer sounds with strings to produce a powerful piece. The demos have a barren quality, pieces like “Hurt” convulse with a palpable loneliness. The Gothic fumes give a final splutter with “Arabia” before the synthesizer warmth of “Outro” folds forth.
Dark Entries is a label that has explored the gamut of synth wave and post punk. These latest two records are definitely of a darker hue. Vita Noctis toe the line between an 80’s disenfranchised rift and a cold wave chord. The Danse Society come from the age when British society was on the verge of dissolution, of widespread strikes and the Troubles of Northern Ireland. This discord is rooted in their raw sound. Both groups reflect an age of musical transition in Europe, and an age of civil discontent. Those clouds of the past are once again building across the globe, with the messages of both records having as much to say now as they did then. Another excellent aural history lesson from San Francisco.
Both releases are available on Dark Entries. [Dark Entries shop]
